The three men ordered their drinks, and as Molly served them she shared the latest rumor—albeit a bit burnished by exaggeration, “I hear tell that there’s a hunnert or more highwaymen surrounding the old Steinmueller cabin up there on the road betwixt Williams’ Station an Danger Bay. There be some marshals in the cabin an’ they be puttin’ up a good fight.”

Spenser took this all in, giving a hard look at McLintock, “Really?”

Season VI, Chapter 2, Episode 32:

“It’s what I hear tell, an there’s more, Chief Grey Cloud has called out all his warriors to help the marshals, hunnerts of em!”

“That many?”

“Not only that, but Marshals from Moosehead City and Danger Bay each have posses of fifty or more riding to the cabin to help their friends. You fellas okay, need anything? I have some work to do in the back.”

"...You fellas okay, need anything? I have some work to do in the back.”

“We’re fine, Molly,” Kidd replied, and when she went in back, continued, “Even with her obvious exaggeration, it don’t look good for your people.”

“Or, for you, Randolph,” Spenser smiled a pained smile, “Major, you need to lay low—and lose that uniform. Go now to my place, Kidd and I will take care of things here.”

“What if your people are successful?” Kidd asked.

“There’s about fifty of them, and yes, they might be successful. We can’t count on that.”

“What do you want?”

Spenser told him—Kidd smiled.

It didn’t take LaChat & Daisy long to find the sentient wildcat, with Daisy’s nose the scent of another wildcat was the easy part, with LaChat’s intuition, determining sentience was just as easy, “Hello handsome…I’ve been searching for you for—centuries.”

"Oh...my..."

“Oh…my…!” the wildcat exclaimed.

Sporadic fire broke the silence of the night, the raiders kept firing—perhaps too much firing—they only had the ammunition they carried with them, there was no supply wagon, and too, their food was limited.

Sporadic fire broke the silence of the night, the raiders kept firing...

Lieutenant Calhoun called a cease-fire and ordered his men to get some rest—they would attack at dawn. Sentries were posted to keep watch on the cabin.

What they didn’t know, is that one of cabin’s occupants had been wounded—gravely wounded.